Sasha Belov
Sasha Belov (Neil Jackson) is the new coach at The Rock, who replaces Marty Walsh after Marty leaves for Denver Elite. Sasha is the only Olympic gymnast to have ever beaten Marty. Sasha has four Olympic gold medals. He kicks Emily out of the gym and out of Nationals at one point, but allows her back in after she proves she is willing to listen to him. Although Sasha is very tough on his gymnasts, he cares for them profusely and wants them to reach their highest potential to go to the Olympics. He tries to do what is best for them, and helped Kaylie, Lauren and Emily place 1st, 4th, and 12th respectively at Nationals. Sasha is shown to be a tough coach, forcing Payson, Emily, Lauren and Kaylie to a rigorous training exercise as a punishment for attending a party yet in the end, teaching them a valuable lesson about obeying the rules. obedience is one of Sasha's main principals However, Sasha is sometimes shown to be very compassionate and caring, comforting Emily's mother at one point. Sasha had previously trained a group of gymnasts but was forced to quit after a girl died of a head injury on his watch. Sasha quit gymnastics after that, and coaching at The Rock is his first job in over five years. His relationship with the Rock manager, Summer is slightly strained, as he doesn't share her beliefs and doesn't appreciate her advice, but ends up kissing her after a debate about discussing abstinence with the gymnasts. In hindsight, he says that he "lost control" and agrees with Summer that it should not happen again, though there is evidence that he has some feelings for her. Later, they kissed again in excitement after learning that the Chinese National Team is coming to The Rock for a club meet. Later in season 2, Sasha brings Summer home after the 8th Annual Rock Banquet and says that he would like to get married, but it has to be with the right woman. He kisses Summer goodnight and leaves. He then realizes he wants her to be the women he marries. He goes back to her door and proposes. She accepts it happily. In season 2, Sasha is helping Payson get back on track with her gymnastic and Payson develops a little crush on him. Going far as kissing him and Ellen finds out after Lauren blackmails him to have him leave The Rock so her father and Summer can marry and she can be her mom. Sasha stays in Denver engaged in boxing till his visa is made and tells Kim that he has made a desiccation that he will hurt the girls if he stays. The Rock girls later convince him to come back as they need them to help them get on track after they lost to Pinewood. When Steve Tanner proposes to Summer she initially asks for some time to think about it as Summer feels there may still be a future for her and Sasha. However when his views on Emily's pregnancy are discussed Summer realizes she and Sasha do not have the same values so accepts Steve's proposal. When Summer tells Sasha this he acts as if he doesn't care but then when she walks away he looks sad about it. Category:Characters Category:Coaches